part 2Mature

Dan held out his hand to her and smiled. As she caught up with him she placed her hand in his and closed her eyes. Dan's hand, in terms of finger length, was not much larger than her own but it always seemed to have extra mass that, in its own way, made it seem like his strong hands could engulf her own. She twinged inside as she followed Dan outside of reality and into a different plane of existence. It was bitterly cold but it didn't last for more than a split second before they phased back into the real world. She didn't open her eyes immediately. She felt the soft wind ripple across her skin and the warm mist that swirled with it could be felt through her clothes. He hugged her close and whispered into her ear. “open your eyes, Jewel.” and she did. Slowly and surely her eyelids edged open. The view stole her breath away with the breeze. The swirling, disturbed mist didn't disrupt the view but instead enhanced it. The dark twilight obscured the city and left only the rooftops and the surroundings available to the eye. The mountains rose up out of the scrub-lands like sharp spines, and the moon lit the majestic peaks with an intense halo like those from old, timeless fables. The entire island was glowing. “This isn't even half of it,” he laughed in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her and powered forwards out over the stone walls of the city and towards the towering peaks, carrying her with him. The wind suddenly whipped at her as they surged towards the ground and levelled out only moments before impact. Dan's wings carried them both over miles in a matter of minutes. He swerved and swooped into deep ravines and gullies. He suddenly buffered them to a stop, using his wings as a primitive parachute and they drifted to the ground. In the pale glow of the moon and the mist she saw an ancient forest unlike any other that the earth held. Trees, no more than twice Dan's height that stretched straight up as a trunk, with no branches or leaves until it reached its crown. At their peaks they blossomed outwards like mushrooms but instead of just a flesh there were indeed branches. Like the trunk; they did not flower except at the very end where green, grass-like leaves spread out like fans making the entire forest look like a carpet of grassy hills from the skies. She dashed into the thick forest, almost dancing around in the wonder of these alien looking ancients. She stared in amazement at the undersides of their royal crowns and their smooth, rubbery barks. “Dragon's Blood trees. The species is twenty million years old... or estimated at that, anyway.” “Do you know that?” “Never really looked into it... neither did any of the others. Anyway, this still isn't the best of it,” he laughed as he seized her and led her through the great forest. As they raced through the forests Jewel almost had to shout to Dan. “This place is amazing, how on earth did you find it?” “That's like asking how much a rose costs!” he chuckled back. Both Dan and Jewel giggled as they chased through the mushroom-like trees. Dan stopped as the emerged into a clearing. Jewel stopped to and gazed out over the deep ravine. It was solid rock except for the sand. Even that didn't stop the some of the ageless flora. Some of the more persistent trees, another unnatural species aside from the Dragon's Blood trees, had seemingly Ignored the lack of soil and simply sunk their roots into the bare rock. They were bulbous plants whose tiny pink flowers took on a pale, embarrassed shade in the glowing mists. They seemed to feed off of the deep river that ran through the little valley. The stream was easily deep enough for the both of them and the little waterfall that dropped gently down into it created a plunge pool. She stood almost hypnotised by the water. The fog seemed to part around it and the lunar light shone straight to the bottom of it, and reflected azure blues and aquatic greens that illuminated the ravine. At no time had she ever seen something so alien and unfamiliar that was still so wonderful and awe inspiring. Her reverie was suddenly disrupted by a loud splash and her eyes fixed immediately on Dan. He'd stripped away his clothes and dived in. As he surfaced his hair draped across his shoulders and his face and body were illuminated by the celestial lights that seemed to be emanating from all around them. She could see all of him, his body was completely bare aside from the luminescent water that covered it. He grinned wickedly. “the water's warm,” he told her, motioning for her to join him.. She could plainly see Dan's eyes sliding up and down the length of her body, admiring her beauty so much more than that of his surroundings. She stepped out onto the water without disturbing its surface and strode out to him, a mischievous smile playing across her lips. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. Her eyes flew open as she felt his hands seize her ankles and drag her downwards. She felt the water soak through her clothes and flow around her body in pleasingly warm currents. Dan pulled her close and locked his lips with hers. They stayed frozen in place for a while, communicating with their lips but not their voices. They pressed against each other, seemingly trying to become just one person. Dan unsealed himself from Jewel and pulled his head back a few inches. She looked at him curiously but he placed one finger on her lips and closed her eyes with the other two. She felt that split second of cold once again but it was negated by the heat radiating from Dan. When they were back in reality she kept her eyes closed for a few seconds. “you may want to open them,” He told her happily, “or you'll miss it.” she opened her eyes gradually. The lights were still there but this time they emanated from the oceans around them and painted the cliffs behind them with colour. She gazed around at the pure white sand that reflected the blues and greens of the ocean and white of the moon and the stars. She resisted the urge to run and play in the sand and waited. Dan pointed to the east. “Look,” he said. The sky reddened and suddenly the bright crimson red of the sunrise blared over the horizon. In the twilight hour of the dawn the spectrum that had started in the night became complete. The azure blue, the aquatic green and the crimson red all blended and separated, splashing entire spectrum of colour on the sands, seas and stone walls of this strange and beautiful island. Jewel turned first to face and admire the cliffs and then to the bright sun that had completed the picture. She felt Dan's arms curl around her and felt his hot breath on her neck and she heard his voice in her ear. “Happy Valentines, my love.”

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